...::2nd half::...

can't believe the 2nd half of the year is already upon us. time flies so fast. pretty soon, it's going to be my 1 year anniversary, and it feels like just yesterday we did the wedding thang and sat on a beach afterwards for 5 days.

i'm pretty excited about the latter half of this year. i had a conversation with one of my senior pastors the other day, and it was nothing short of awe-inspiring! it's not that he's probably one of the most crazy optimists i know in this world, and can be super-charged over just about anything - it's more that he is a person that just refuses to accept status quo and small vision. it's an awesome gift to be able to have that much faith, that you would stake your all on it. it's how i should be more often!

sometimes i tend to be the cautious optimist. i like to keep my bets hedged - but in the past couple years, i've really experienced life otherwise. i looked back at some of my old posts - and i guess one of the glaring ones was way back about 2 and some years ago, and we were all in doubt over the VC bldg, both in finding it and paying for it. my pastors w/the vision kept us all steered in the right direction, and in the end, just visit 135 Des Voeux Rd, 2/F in Central, HK and you'll see what became of that! i remember also posting about asking for a job which frees up time for ministry - and i've been given that many times over. i don't even need to go on about the wife - cuz she's absolutely made in heaven! i also remember the work that GOD did for us at the CD recording. we committed a bunch of resources to those 2 nights, flying in specialists from OZ, and a bunch of crew in HK. living thru the waterfall on stage, with no injuries, and minimal equipment damage, and most of all, being able to proceed with the recording was nothing short of miraculous.. all i know is that the only reason all those events came to pass is that the VISION was given by God, and we just have to have the faith to bring it to pass.

that's the tricky thing i guess. sure - we could have saved a few bux and gone w/the skimpy, toned-down design for the Vine Centre; but would we have what we have now (and MORE???)? we could have decided that one nite to cancel the recording, and do it on early sunday morning instead, before morning service; but would we have had the same testimony of GOD's awesome work, and would we still have the new level of faith that we have now?

there are so many things happening. GOd had given me a vision for the vine a while back, at least a year. i had talked about it to a few people at that time, but then, i had passed it off as another one of my crazy ideas so let it slip. recently, i had really felt more conviction. i had more chats w/more people, and felt that this vision needs to be spread and tested. then i had a chat w/my sr. pastor this past week, and really i was SO PSYCHED after! then as i write this (into my first paragraph) - i just received an email from him, and he fwd me this email from this other dude whom i don't know personally (but i know he's a strong believer, and he's been helping at our alpha course), and never even had so much as a 'hi' with - and he basically had emailed the pastor about the same exact vision that i had. it was exactly what i had been talking about just a few days earlier - down to the nitty details.

now, again - i posted before that i'm not one for coincidence. ex-vine elder, andy G, once told me that 'we don't believe in luck, do we?'... i had bumped into him on my way to my first interview w/fidelity one early morning (like 8:30am!) - i was so nervous - and he gave me a quick word of blessing, and as he left, he said 'good luck... but then again, we don't believe in luck, do we? don't worry - it's a done deal! bless you mate'. and that was that. i was all calm after that, and well - the rest is proverbial history. soooo, if that forwarded email wasn't enough confirmation, i don't know what is...

guess i just wanted to put my thoughts to paper right now. prayer is probably a good place to start, something that's been lacking in life recently. God's put things into my heart before. when i'm faithful - everything that's been shown to me has come to pass. so that's where i'm at now - i'm a bit afraid cuz it's such a big undertaking. but that's the whole problem with this whole God thing. with God and faith, we pray big, we ask big, and we get big - but the only place to go from here is bigger. there's no way i'd settle for anything less!